For he so loved the world
by the T.S.A swat team
Summary: An old Ninetales tells some visiting Heroes a story.


Ninetales walked into the room, kettle handle in his jaw. With all the grace and majesty that accompanied his species he walked to a table, at it sat two guests, a Serperior and a Typhlosion. He'd already set out snacks and cups but left the tea on to ensure its warmth for the hero's that visited him. He poured each one a cup and sat, sighing as he took the weight off his old bones. "How're you two" he asked, "Great!" The Typhlosion, Eve, responded with a grin before her partner "It's been nice, taking a load off, with all Ampharos has had us doing recently" The fox nodded. "Well, mind telling me about your adventures? There isn't much for an old fire-type to do in these hills." He said with a chuckle "Well, there's" The Serperior began, before being cut off by his mate "Actually, Aloe, I was hoping Victor could tell us a story for once, since we've told him so much"

The snake quietly glared at his mate's outburst. The older of the three Pokémon chuckled quietly to himself "Very well, I suppose it is only fair." He said before clearing his throat and taking a sip of his tea "Well, what should I tell you two? Perhaps _the fire of hatred_?" he suggested. Eve shook her head "Isn't that a child's story?" Victor shook his head "Perhaps, but I still enjoy it." He cleared his throat and began "Once there was a creature of fire, impossibly angry and scornful, leaving only destruction in his wake. Though he wasn't alone, beside him walked a much more level headed, kind Pokémon." He stopped for air and Aloe looked at him confused, "I thought Feraligatr lived in a town the beast visited" The Ninetales shook his head "No no, that's the 'new' version" he said irritation heavy in his voice, It fell upon his face for only a few moments before he took a sip of tea.

"Well, where was I… Ahh. They journeyed together, and one day found a young girl… A, Pichu, she'd sprained her ankle playing beside a creak." Eve interrupted "no they found her under a log" Aloe glared at her once again. The Ninetales wondered if the former human bought into the myth that Ninetales would curse others out of scorn, he shrugged finding that it honestly didn't matter "there hasn't been a tale more twisted by time than this, please, allow me to finish." He replied simply, letting silence occupy the room for a few moments before he continued. "Feraligatr bent down and began to mend the girls leg. The beast wanted to leave her, they had more important things to do. Yet Feraligatr wouldn't allow him, so the beast sat, unwilling to leave the Pokémon who'd stood by him for so long alone. When the Pichu was mended she gave Feraligatr a sincere thank you, hugging him before she ran off. The beast looked at the warmth in that hug and was jealous, he could raze a forest to the ground and frolic in it as it burns yet, with all this power, he could not enjoy the touch of another? He and Feraligatr moved on and kept travelling, and the water-types kindness began to seep into the beast, until one day. He saw a poor Raticate, and without any prompting he threw it a bag of coin, before walking off. Feraligatr noticed, and asked him why he'd done that, and he said back. 'For you have so loved the world, that my own contempt and hatred cannot stand to burn in your presence, and through you, I have discovered, that perhaps, even a creature as utterly repulsive as me, can learn to be kind' It wasn't too long afterwards that the two settled down. There was something calming about the Feraligatr, they'd been the only one to cow the beast's hatred."

Leaning down the Ninetales ate one of the tea biscuits and had a sip before relaxing in his chair. "That's it?" Eve asked impatiently "Oh yes" the Ninetales responded with a smile, "That is the true story, not as glamorous or exciting as the modern interpretation but then again, fairy tales tend to be like that." Aloe raised a vine up to ask a question "So that story is true?" to which the fox nodded. "Are you sure? It seems a bit picturesque." The Ninetales once again nodded "Well I have forgotten a little, but you have to forgive me, it has been" he rested one of his tails under his chin "about… Five hundred and… twenty years?" Eve spoke up next "Since what?" Victor replied, "Since me and Feraligatr settled down" he replied with a chuckle, Eve seemed a little confused, but Aloe got what he was saying "So wait, you're saying the beast was you?" the Ninetales nodded "Yes, that was me, out of all our adventures I'm surprised that's the only thing that really stuck" the pair of heroes sat there for a moment, thinking about the implications of knowing a Pokémon from a fairy tale. "What were you so angry about actually?" the Ninetales shrugged "I was imbittered over an incident, the time gears incident actually. Being erased from existence isn't an experience that leaves one in a good mood unfortunately"

Eve, actually being a Pokémon new the tale he spoke of very intimately. "wait, you were the hero of time? That would mean… How do we know your not pulling our legs?" The Ninetales with a flourish stood up, and just as Aloe was opening his mouth, turned around before leaving the room. "Do you think he's angry?" Eve asked, "I hope not" Victor returned, a scarf in his jaw. He dropped it on the table, and with the gentleness one would treat a new born he unfurled the bundled fabric. In the mess sat two exploration team badges, polished and cared for. "These, were ours…" he said simply, sighing a little. Eve picked one up and looked it over in her cream paw. Aloe picked up the other "so we got you to thank for the whole… Time still working thing, right?" Aloe stated not so elegantly. "Yes, that is correct" Aloe looked to Eve "wasn't the hero of time a human" before the Typhlosion could answer, victor spoke up "I was once human, but that was several lifetimes ago. In a future that no longer exists, tell me Aloe, have your human memories come back?" the Serperior nodded "Yes, I remember when I was still human, it's taken a long time." For a moment excitement displayed itself on Victor's face, before it was once again replaced with a practiced neutral stare. "there's… about five hundred and eighty-five years between my departure from the reality of man, and yours. Doubt much is the same… We'll talk about it later." He said

Eve was the next to speak up "Wait if you're the hero of time, why haven't you stepped up when the worlds been threatened? The bitter cold, Dark matter? What were you doing that entire time!" The Ninetales looked to her and then down, with a bit of shame. "Because I never saw it as my place, Arceus seems to have conspired to have me whip time back into it's unrelenting and brutal march, he has never once sent me a note telling me to use my flame to beat back the never-ending winter, nor has Dailga ever delivered Feraligatr unto me and told us to root the hatred out from this place. No, that was your job. Not mine." He said laughing a little "Mise en place" he said looking to the Serperior, speaking in a tongue so foreign yet familiar. "I think you can justify marching out of beat when the worlds at stake" the grass-type replied realizing how much help he could've been if he decided to intervene. "I'm sorry but I don't quiet see it like that, my time was long ago. I fear it is no longer my place to decide the fate of this world." He shrugged "I suppose that it couldn't hurt to go out to the mystery dungeons again if you two really do need help from an old man" he chuckled and took the antique badges from the two, placing them back in storage before storing them away.

When he returned he sat and drank from his tea cup "I think I've had enough fun for today though. It would be nice if you could leave me to rest, I hope your next visit isn't so taxing on me" he said with a chuckle as the two heroes bid him goodbye….

"Think he was telling the truth?" Aloe asked his mate once they were half way down the mountain, and Victor was well out of earshot "Maybe, the badges seemed real, his age lines up, and he's not exactly gaining anything by lying to us." Eve responded quietly pondering the same question. "Suppose he doesn't… Hey Eve?"

"Do you think Victor regrets anything?"

"maybe"

"Do you think, we'll regret anything?"

"maybe…"


End file.
